Rita silently scread in her mind, "Nivalis, Nivalis, Nivalis——!"
Nivalis replied confidently, "Don't worry, babe! I promise I'll get it for you!"
Without hesitation, Nivalis flopped onto the ground and started kicking and flailing her limbs, "I want it! I want it, I don't care!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she beca. Then, as if rembering sothing, she added, "And the secret of the Eternal Night Fortress tower, I want to know that too~ Babe, what else do you want? You tell ."
Rita choked back her words, barely able to say, "I want to live."
Rita thought, I will never co to your house again!!
She had never been this embarrassed in her life. Just thinking about the scene from today would keep her up all night, wide awake, even when she wasn't physically in the situation.
But she still rushed over, trying to pull Nivalis up, whispering desperately, "Nivalis—!"
What Rita didn't realize was that Holy Cup, North Year, and Snow Pile were all watching with amused smiles.
As the "group pet" (a term of endearnt in the dragon world), Nivalis was allowed to do anything without limits or consequences. Moreover, Nivalis and Rita's playful interactions were thoroughly entertaining to the elder dragons. To them, it was a rare chance to see Nivalis act so carefree. Nivalis had never behaved this way before. Surrounded by dragons thousands of years older than her, she couldn't just play around with the elders like this.
Once Rita managed to drag Nivalis back to her seat by the neck, Snow Pile finally spoke. "I know what this is. In fact, I have one in my dragon lair. But since the dragon race is neutral, I won't tell you what it does. However... if you help us with a task, I'll give you the one from my lair."
A task?
Rita wasn't worried about the dragon race assigning her a task. She was more concerned about the debt she might owe them. However, she knew it was best not to turn down an opportunity.
She quickly responded, "Please tell , elder."
Snow Pile nodded slightly and began, "Over a hundred years ago, a wind-scythe dragon ca to the dragon lair and stole a scale from our Dragon Ancestor. If you and Nivalis can retrieve that scale, I will give you the bone plate."
Nivalis asked the question Rita was thinking, "If it's such an important item, why didn't you go after it yourself?" Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire
Snow Pile snorted, his fiery red eyes fixed on Rita, "The Dragon Ancestor's scale was stolen by the wind-scythe and brought to your world. It was eventually left on your planet."
Over a hundred years ago? Blue Star?
Rita's mind raced as she asked, "But our world was only just invaded recently..."
Snow Pile did not respond to that question. Instead, he exhaled a stream of dragon fire. The flas ford into a human face in the air, conveying the terms of the deal with utmost clarity: "This is the last known holder of the scale, and it's all the information I can give you. Find the scale and bring it back to the dragon lair, and I will give you what you want—whether it's the bone plate or the story of the Eternal Night Fortress tower."
Rita stared at the magical face in the air. It was the face of a middle-aged man. She was sure she didn't recognize him, yet there was sothing about that face that seed eerily familiar. It was a face she felt she had seen sowhere before.
Nivalis, anwhile, had already flown up to Snow Pile's back, excitedly trying to see the dragon lair's Mahjong tiles. Snow Pile, unable to resist her enthusiasm—mainly because Holy Cup and North Year were also intensely watching—pulled out one of the tiles and showed it to Nivalis.
Nivalis bead, "7-Tong!!"
Rita was montarily stunned by the discovery, but when she looked up again, Snow Pile had already put the tile away.
Snow Pile swiped his claws, lifting Nivalis off his back and dropping her back onto the floor. "No more acting spoiled. You get the scale, you get the bone plate."
With the main business concluded, Rita and Nivalis stayed a while longer in Snow Pile's lair. Nivalis and Holy Cup, along with North Year, were chatting about the gas from Rita's world. Even though Lania Kaia had its own gaming devices, Holy Cup and North Year were already bored of them, so Nivalis eagerly introduced them to the gas from Blue Star.
Rita, on the other hand, was lost in thought. She couldn't shake the feeling that the face from the magical thread was soone she should recognize.
The mont of realization ca when Nivalis, exhausted from playing, took Rita back to her own small dragon lair. As Nivalis grumbled about her lack of achievents and missing dals, Rita suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
She went to her lair, dug through her bag, and pulled out sothing she had obtained a long ti ago: a figurine.
[An Ancestor] (S-grade): "By touching the statue and praying devoutly, you can increase your maximum health by 10% and your maximum mana by 10%. Duration: 10 minutes. This effect can only be triggered once every 30 minutes. (Note: If the player's surna is White, an additional 10% damage is added, and the duration is extended to 15 minutes.)"
The face on the statue was that of an elderly mber of the White family, while the face Snow Pile had shown her was of the man in his middle age. Though their features were the sa, there was a clear difference between an older and middle-aged face, so Rita hadn't imdiately made the connection.
Had the sculptor not omitted a few wrinkles, Rita might have never realized the connection.
Nivalis, who had flown over, also made the connection. She pointed at the face and exclaid, "This is the person in the painting, right?"
Rita nodded slowly. She, too, now realized it was the sa person.
They both turned to the base of the statue where there was a small inscription detailing his achievents. The inscription read: "Jason White, 1922–2006, 'A life of no regrets, a half-life betrayed.'"
Nivalis pointed at the words and asked, "What does this an?"
Rita didn't quite understand the depth of the ssage either.
However, having found the first real clue so quickly, Rita felt a great sense of progress. The task's progress had easily jumped forward by at least 30%.
Feeling much better, Rita decided to spend a few more days in the dragon lair. Since the most exciting part of the journey was over, she had nothing to fear anymore. Nivalis took her around the dragon island, shopping and collecting rare materials.
One day, they gathered dust from the dragons' claws as they sharpened them, another day they collected dragon scales that had fallen off in the corners of the island before Snow Pile could gather them. They even found half a dragon's whisker.
Though these items no longer had any magical power, they were still great materials. After inspecting them, Snow Pile had allowed Rita to keep them.
Every day, Rita and Nivalis would go to North Year and Holy Cup's lair for als. Rita found Holy Cup's lair more aesthetically pleasing, so most of the ti, they would go there, though North Year would still send the food to Holy Cup's lair.
Nivalis would always return to Holy Cup's lair with the sa "Holy Cup, I brought back so trash" look, and Rita began to notice that Holy Cup's expression seed to grow colder and colder every day...
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